Method and system for concurrently transmitting signals

ABSTRACT

A method and a system for concurrently transmitting from an antenna a first sequence of data from a first access node and a second sequence of data from a second access node. An example method includes orthogonally encoding the first and second sequences, including encoding the first sequence with a first binary code to produce a first encoded sequence and encoding the second sequence with a second binary code to produce a second encoded sequence, combining the first encoded sequence and the second encoded sequence to produce a combined encoded sequence, and transmitting the combined encoded sequence from the antenna, with transmitting the combined encoded sequence from the antenna including engaging in a first transmission of the combined encoded sequence from the antenna and engaging in a second transmission of the combined encoded sequence from the same antenna with a phase delay compared with the first transmission.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/350,667filed on Jun. 17, 2021, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

A typical wireless communication system includes a number of cell sites,each including one or more access nodes configured to provide coveragein which user equipment devices (UEs) such as cell phones, tabletcomputers, machine-type-communication devices, tracking devices,embedded wireless modules, and/or other wirelessly equippedcommunication devices (whether or not user operated), can operate.Further, each access node could be coupled with a core network thatprovides connectivity with various application servers and/or transportnetworks, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and/orthe Internet for instance. With this arrangement, a UE within coverageof the system could engage in air-interface communication with an accessnode and could thereby communicate via the access node with variousapplication servers and other entities.

Such a system could operate in accordance with a particular radio accesstechnology (RAT), with communications from an access node to UEsdefining a downlink or forward link and communications from the UEs tothe access node defining an uplink or reverse link.

Over the years, the industry has developed various generations of RATs,in a continuous effort to increase available data rate and quality ofservice for end users. These generations have ranged from “1G,” whichused simple analog frequency modulation to facilitate basic voice-callservice, to “4G”—such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), which nowfacilitates mobile broadband service using technologies such asorthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and multiple inputmultiple output (MIMO). And recently, the industry has completed initialspecifications for “5G” and particularly “5G NR” (5G New Radio), whichmay use a scalable OFDM air interface, advanced channel coding, massiveMIMO, beamforming, and/or other features, to support higher data ratesand countless applications, such as mission-critical services, enhancedmobile broadband, and massive Internet of Things (IoT).

In accordance with the RAT, each access node could provide service onone or more radio-frequency (RF) carriers, each of which could befrequency division duplex (FDD), with separate frequency channels fordownlink and uplink communication, or time division duplex (TDD), with asingle frequency channel multiplexed over time between downlink anduplink use. Each such frequency channel could be defined as a specificrange of frequency (e.g., in radio-frequency (RF) spectrum) having abandwidth and a center frequency and thus extending from a low-endfrequency to a high-end frequency.

Further, on the downlink and uplink channels, the coverage of eachaccess node could define an air interface configured in a specificmanner to define physical resources for carrying information wirelesslybetween the access node and UEs.

Without limitation, for instance, the air interface could be dividedover time into frames, subframes, and symbol time segments, and overfrequency into subcarriers that could be modulated to carry data. Theexample air interface could thus define an array of time-frequencyresource elements each being at a respective symbol time segment andsubcarrier, and the subcarrier of each resource element could bemodulated to carry data. Further, in each subframe or other transmissiontime interval (TTI), the resource elements on the downlink and uplinkcould be grouped to define physical resource blocks (PRBs) that theaccess node could allocate as needed to carry data between the accessnode and served UEs.

In addition, certain resource elements on the example air interfacecould be reserved for special purposes. For instance, on the downlink,certain resource elements could be reserved to carry synchronizationsignals that UEs could detect as an indication of the presence ofcoverage and to establish frame timing, a reference signal that UEscould measure in order to determine coverage strength, and other controlsignaling such as PRB-scheduling directives and acknowledgementmessaging from the access node to served UEs. And on the uplink, certainresource elements could be reserved to carry random access signalingfrom UEs to the access node, and other control signaling such asPRB-scheduling requests and acknowledgement signaling from UEs to theaccess node.

To facilitate providing this coverage and service, each cell site couldinclude an antenna structure through which the access node(s) of thecell site can engage in air interface communication. For instance, eachcell site could include an antenna array, which could be connectedthrough RF circuitry with a baseband unit of each access node of thecell site. A representative antenna array could have a number ofantennas (or antenna elements), such as a number of transmit antennasfor use to engage in downlink air-interface communication and a numberof receive antennas for use to engage in uplink air-interfacecommunication.

OVERVIEW

In example operation, when a UE enters into coverage of such a system,the UE could initially scan for and detect threshold strong coverage ofan access node on a carrier, and the UE could responsively engage insignaling with the access node to establish a Radio Resource Control(RRC) connection between the UE and the access node. Further, ifappropriate, the UE could then engage in attach signaling, via theaccess node, with a core-network controller to attach and thus registerfor service, and the core-network controller and access node couldcoordinate setup for the UE of one or more user-plane bearers, eachincluding an access-bearer that extends between the access node and acore-network gateway system providing connectivity with a transportnetwork and each including a data-radio-bearer (DRB) that extends overthe air between the access node and the UE.

Once the UE is connected and attached, the access node could then servethe UE with packet-data communications through the antenna connected tothe access node.

For instance, when the core-network gateway system receives packet datafor transmission to the UE, the data could flow over the UE's accessbearer to the access node, and the access node could buffer the data,pending transmission of the data over the UE's DRB to the UE. With theexample air-interface configuration noted above, the access node couldthen allocate downlink PRBs in an upcoming subframe for carrying atleast some of the data to the UE. And in that subframe, the access nodecould transmit through the antenna to the UE a scheduling directive thatindicates which PRBs will carry the data, and the access node couldtransmit the data to the UE in those PRBs by modulating the data on thesubcarriers of resource elements of those PRBs. Further, to facilitatethis downlink communication, the UE could regularly monitor everydownlink subframe for the presence of any such scheduling directive tothe UE. And upon detecting and reading the scheduling directive, the UEcould then read the transmitted data from the indicated PRBs.

Likewise, on the uplink, when the UE has packet data for transmission onthe transport network, the UE could buffer the data, pendingtransmission of the data over the UE's DRB to the access node, and theUE could transmit to the access node a scheduling request that carries abuffer status report (BSR) indicating the quantity of data that the UEhas buffered for transmission. With the example air-interfaceconfiguration, the access node could then allocate uplink PRBs in anupcoming subframe to carry at least some of the data from the UE andcould transmit to the UE a scheduling directive indicating thoseupcoming PRBs. Similarly here, the UE could monitor each downlinksubframe for the presence of such a scheduling directive. And upondetecting and reading the scheduling directive, the UE could accordinglytransmit the data to the access node in the indicated PRBs, similarly bymodulating the data on the subcarriers of resource elements of thosePRBs.

In a representative system where a cell site include at least two accessnodes, such as access nodes operating according to different RATs thaneach other, the access nodes may support serving a UE concurrently withdata communications. For instance, if a cell site has a 4G LTE accessnode and a 5G NR access node, the access nodes could be configured tocooperatively provide a UE with 4G-5G dual connectivity such as EUTR-NRDual Connectivity (EN-DC), among other possibilities. Having two or moreaccess nodes serve a UE concurrently can help to increase the UE's peakdata rate, which may provide improved user experience.

One technical issue with having two access nodes of a cell site serve aUE concurrently, however, is that the access nodes may need to operateon separate respective carriers or at least on separate respective RFresources within a carrier, and may need to provide separate respectiveantenna transmissions to the UE, to help avoid interference between oneaccess node's transmissions to the UE and the other access node'stransmissions to the UE. Unfortunately, however, given RF spectrumlicensing costs and given constraints in terms of coverage scope, thisarrangement can be restrictive.

The present disclosure provides an improved mechanism to help addressthis issue.

In accordance with the disclosure, when two access nodes of a cell siteare concurrently serving a UE and each access node has a respective datasequence to transmit to the UE, the access nodes' respective datasequences will be orthogonally coded, the orthogonally-coded datasequences will be combined together to produce a combined data sequence,and the combined data sequence will then be transmitted from an antennaof the cell site to the UE.

In an example implementation of this process, one of the access nodescould serve as a primary access node, and the other access node couldserve as a secondary access node. Through signaling with each other, theaccess nodes could establish that they each have a respective datasequence to send to the same UE. Each access node could then encode itsrespective data with a respective orthogonal code to produce arespective orthogonally coded data sequence. For instance, the primaryaccess node could encode its respective data sequence with a firstbinary code to produce a first orthogonally coded data sequence, and thesecondary access node could encode its respective data sequence with asecond binary code that is orthogonal to the first binary code (e.g.having zero cross-correlation with the first binary code) to produce asecond orthogonally coded data sequence. And the secondary access nodecould then transmit its second orthogonally coded data sequence to theprimary access node.

The primary access node could then combine together both access nodes'orthogonally coded data sequences to produce the combined data sequence.And the primary access node could then schedule and provide transmissionof the combined data sequence to the UE, in the manner discussed abovefor instance, perhaps noting to the UE in a scheduling directive thatthe transmission is a combination of data from the primary access nodeand data from the secondary access node. Further, upon receipt of thecombined data sequence, the UE could then extract each access node'srespective data sequence and could process the extracted dataaccordingly.

Given that this combined transmission includes data from both accessnodes, it may be especially desirable to help ensure successful receiptof the combined data sequence by the UE. To help facilitate this, thepresent disclosure also provides for multi-phase transmission of thecombined data sequence. In particular, the primary access node couldinterwork with other components of the cell site to cause the combineddata sequence to be transmitted with a first phase delay and then againwith a second phase delay different than the first phase delay.Automatically so transmitting the combined data sequence at least twicewith different phase delays may help to simulate a multi-path ortransmit-diversity effect, which may help to ensure that the UEsuccessfully receives the transmission.

These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives will becomeapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the followingdetailed description, with reference where appropriate to theaccompanying drawings. Further, it should be understood that thedescriptions provided in this overview and below are intended toillustrate the invention by way of example only and not by way oflimitation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an example network arrangementin which features of the present disclosure can be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart depicting a method that could be carried out inaccordance with the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of an example computing systemoperable in accordance with the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of an example access node operablein accordance with the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As noted above, FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of an examplenetwork arrangement in which features of the present disclosure can beimplemented. It should be understood, however, that the principlesdisclosed herein could extend to apply with respect to other scenariosas well. Further, it should be understood that other variations from thespecific arrangements and processes described are possible. Forinstance, various described entities, connections, functions, and otherelements could be added, omitted, distributed, re-located, re-ordered,combined, or changed in other ways. In addition, it will be understoodthat technical operations disclosed as being carried out by one or moreentities could be carried out at least in part by a processing unitprogrammed to carry out the operations or to cause one or more otherentities to carry out the operations.

FIG. 1 depicts a cell site 12 having two example access nodes, a firstaccess node 14, and a second access node 16, and antenna (e.g., antennaarray) 36 through which the access nodes 14, 16 can engage in airinterface communication. Access nodes 14, 16 could be two of many accessnodes that could be included in cell site 12. Further, either or bothaccess nodes, and/or other aspects of the cell site 12 could define acomputing system that could perform various operations discussed herein.

Access nodes 14, 16 could each take various forms. For example, eitheror each access node could be a macro access node, a small cell accessnode, or other type of access node designed to provide wireless coveragein which to serve UEs. Further, the access nodes could be configured toserve UEs in accordance with one or more defined RATs, such as oneaccording to 4G LTE and the other according to 5G NR for instance, andthe access nodes could vary in form from each other.

Access nodes 14, 16 are also interconnected with one or more corenetworks 22, which could provide connectivity with one or more externaltransport networks 24 such as the Internet for instance. Each such corenetwork could take various forms, examples of which include withoutlimitation an Enhanced Packet Core (EPC) network and a Next GenerationCore (NGC) network. As shown by way of example, the core network couldinclude a mobility management entity (MME) 32, a serving gateway (SGW)28, and a packet-data-network gateway (PGW) 30, among other nodes. Withthis example arrangement, each access node could have establishedcommunication interfaces with the MME 32, with the SGW 28, and withother access node, the MME 32 could have a communication interface withthe SGW 28, the SGW 28 could have a communication interface with the PGW30, and the PGW 30 could provide connectivity with the transport network24.

FIG. 1 illustrates a number of UEs within coverage of this cell site 12.Each such UE could take any of the forms noted above, among otherpossibilities. And the UE could be configured to be served concurrentlyby multiple access nodes, such as by access node 14 and access node 16.For instance, the UE could be equipped with multiple radios, to enablethe UE to be served concurrently by the multiple access nodes.

In line with the discussion above, when a UE enters into coverage ofeach such access node, the UE could discover coverage of the access nodeon a respective carrier, such as by reading broadcast signaling from theaccess node on the carrier, and the UE could then engage in randomaccess and connection signaling with the access node to establish aconnection through which the access node could then serve the UE.Further, if the UE is not yet registered for service, the UE couldengage in attachment signaling with the MME 32 via the access node, andthe MME 32 could coordinate setup of one or more user-plane bearertunnels between the UE and the PGW 30 including for each a DRB over theair between the access node and the UE and an access bearer through thecore network between the access node and the PGW 30. The access node maythen serve the UE on the carrier, coordinating use of air interfaceresources such as PRBs to carry data to and from the UE as describedabove.

Further in line with the discussion above, when a representative UE isso connected with and served by both access nodes 14, 16, it may beuseful to combine the access nodes' transmissions to the UE, so as toprovide a combined transmission to the UE. In particular, when accessnode 14 has a sequence of data to send to the UE and access node 16 alsohas a sequence of data to send to the UE, it may be worthwhile tocombine those sequences together and transmit the resulting combinedsequence to the UE in a single beam (antenna transmission path) on asingle set of air-interface resources, rather than providing separatetransmissions.

To facilitate this in an example implementation, a computing systemcould orthogonally encode the sequences and combine the orthogonallycoded sequences to produce a combined sequence and could then outputthat combined sequence for transmission to the UE. Further, thecomputing system could help ensure successful transmission of thecombined sequence by intentionally providing the transmission multipletimes with different respective phase delays.

By way of example, if each access node's respective data sequence is abinary bit sequence, the access nodes, operating as representativecomponents of the computing system, could encode their respective bitsequences with binary codes C₁, C₂ (such as Walsh codes for instance)that are orthogonal to each other in that they would have zerocross-correlation with each other. Namely, if access node 14 has a firstbit sequence to transmit to the UE, access node 14 could encode thatfirst bit sequence with code C₁ to produce a first encoded bit sequence,and if access node 16 has a second bit sequence to transmit to the UE,access node 16 could encode that second bit sequence with code C₂ toproduce a second encoded bit sequence. Access node 16 could then send toaccess node 14 its second encoded bit sequence. And access node 14 couldthen combine the first and second orthogonally encoded bit sequencestogether to produce a combined bit sequence. Further, access node 14could then coordinate transmission of the combined bit sequence to theUE, with multiple transmissions having different phase delays as notedabove.

In an example implementation, without limitation, the act of encodingeach underlying bit sequence with a binary code could involve XOR'ing(applying the logical XOR operation to) successive bits of the bitsequence with the binary code. For instance, if the binary code is eightbits long, a computing system could XOR every eight bits of the bitsequence with the binary code. In turn, the act of extracting anunderlying bit sequence from the combination of the encoded bitsequences could similarly involve XOR'ing the combined bit sequence withthe same binary code.

Further, the act of combining the two encoded sequences could involveAND'ing (applying the logical AND operation to) successive bits of eachof the two sequences of code. For instance, if the two encoded sequencesare a first and second encoded sequence comprising eight bits each, thena computing system could AND every eight bits of the first encodedsequence with every eight bits of the second encoded sequence.

The act of transmitting the combined sequence multiple times withdifferent phase delays could then involve signaling between access node14 and the antenna 36. For instance, a baseband unit of access 14 couldcommunicate with a remote radio head of the antenna 36, engaging insignaling to cause the transmission of the combined bit sequence tooccur with a first phase delay and automatically then again with adifferent, second phase delay. Thus, the second transmission would havea different phase delay than the first transmission.

Note that the term “phase delay” could refer to the phase of therespective RF transmission waveform. Thus, the two transmissions havingdifferent phase delays than each other could mean that the twotransmissions have different phases than each other, such as that thesecond transmission is shifted by some number of degrees from the firsttransmission, among other possibilities. To facilitate this, the systemcould engage in the first transmission of the combined bit sequence andcould then wait a predetermined amount of time and then engage in thesecond transmission of the combined sequence, with the predeterminedamount of time being set such that the two transmissions would be out ofphase with each other.

As indicated above, when coordinating the combined transmission to theUE, access node 14 could include in its scheduling directive to the UEan indication that the transmission being provided to the UE is aspecial transmission as so described. Namely, access node 14 couldinclude in its scheduling directive to the UE a codeword or the likethat the UE is configured to interpret to mean that the transmission isa combination of data sequences from both access node 14 and access node16.

Upon receiving this transmission, the UE could then decode the sequence,extracting the respective underlying bit sequences by using the samebinary orthogonal codes C₁, C₂ that the access nodes used to encode thesequences in the first place. For example, the UE could apply the firstcode C₁ to the received combined sequence to extract the firstunderlying bit sequence, and the UE could apply the second C₂ to thereceived combined sequence to extract the second underlying bitsequence.

Note also that many variations from the above-described arrangement andprocess could be possible. By way of example, rather than having accessnodes 14, 16 separately encode their respective bit sequences, accessnode 16 could provide its bit sequence to access node 14, and accessnode could orthogonally encode its own bit sequence and the bit sequenceprovided by access node 14. Access node 16 could then combine theorthogonally encoded bit sequences together and so forth as noted above.Other variations could be possible as well.

FIG. 2 is next a flow chart depicting an example method that could becarried out to facilitate concurrent transmission from an antenna of (i)a first sequence of data from a first access node and (ii) a secondsequence of data from a second access node.

As shown in FIG. 2 , at block 40, the method includes orthogonallyencoding the first and second sequences, including encoding the firstsequence with a first binary code to produce a first encoded sequenceand encoding the second sequence with a second binary code to produce asecond encoded sequence, where the first binary code is orthogonal tothe second binary code. And at block 42, the method includes combiningthe first encoded sequence and the second encoded sequence to produce acombined encoded sequence. At block 44, the method includes transmittingthe combined encoded sequence from an antenna, where transmitting thecombined encoded sequence from the antenna comprises (i) engaging in afirst transmission of the combined encoded sequence from the antenna,and (ii) engaging in a second transmission of the combined encodedsequence from the same antenna with a phase delay compared with thefirst transmission.

In line with the discussion above, the first and access nodes may serveone or more UEs. Specifically, the first and second access nodes mayserve a common UE, and transmitting the combined encoded sequence couldbe to the common UE. Additionally or alternatively, the first accessnode could serve a first UE, and the second access node could serve asecond UE different from the first UE, and transmitting the combinedencoded sequence could be to the first and second UE.

Further, as mentioned above, the act of encoding and combining thesequences could involve binary bit-wise operations. For example,encoding the first sequence with the first binary code could compriseXOR'ing (performing an XOR operation to) the first sequence and thefirst binary code to produce the first encoded sequence, and encodingthe second sequence with the second binary code could comprise XOR'ingthe second sequence with the second binary code to produce the secondencoded sequence. Additionally, combining the first encoded sequence andthe second encoded sequence could include at least summing the firstencoded sequence with the second encoded sequence to produce thecombined encoded sequence, and summing the first encoded sequence withthe second encoded sequence could comprise AND'ing (performing an ANDoperation to) the first encoded sequence and the second encodedsequence.

Further, the first binary code and the second binary codes may have zerocross-correlation with each other. Specifically, the first and secondbinary codes may be Walsh codes.

Still further, the first transmission of the combined encoded sequencemay occur with a first phase, and engaging in the second transmission ofthe combined encoded sequence from the same antenna with the phase delaymay include transmitting, after the first transmission, the combinedsequence from the same antenna after a predefined amount of time at asecond phase, and the second phase may be different from the firstphase.

The steps of the example method could be carried out by a cell site,including, for example, access node 14, access node 16, antenna 36, MME32, and so on. The cell site could include and/or define a computingsystem. In some examples, the steps of the example method may be carriedout by multiple computing systems. For example, encoding the firstsequence with the first binary code to produce the first encodedsequence may be carried out by the first access node, and encoding thesecond sequence with the second binary code to produce the secondencoded sequence may be carried out by the second access node.

FIG. 3 is next a simplified block diagram of an example computing systemthat could be operable in accordance with the present disclosure tofacilitate concurrent transmission of data from at least two accessnodes. As noted above, such a computing system could be provided at ormore of the entities shown in FIG. 1 , among other possibilities.

As shown in FIG. 3 , the example computing system includes at least onenetwork communication interface 50, at least one processor 52, and atleast one non-transitory data storage 54, which could be integratedtogether and/or interconnected by a system bus, network, or otherconnection mechanism 56.

The at least one network communication interface 50 could comprise aphysical network connector (e.g., an Ethernet interface) and associatedcommunication logic (e.g., protocol stacks) to facilitate wired orwireless network communication with various other entities. The at leastone processor 52 could comprise one or more general purpose processors(e.g., microprocessors) and/or one or more specialized processors (e.g.,application specific integrated circuits). And the at least onenon-transitory data storage 54 could comprise one or more volatileand/or non-volatile storage components (e.g., magnetic, optical, orflash storage, necessarily non-transitory).

As shown, the at least one non-transitory data storage 54 could thenstore program instructions 58. These program instructions could beexecutable by the at least one processor 52 to cause the computingsystem to carry out various operations described herein, including butnot limited to the operations discussed above in relation to FIG. 2 .

Various other features discussed herein can be implemented in thiscontext as well, and vice versa.

FIG. 4 is next a simplified block diagram of an example access node thatcould be operable in accordance with the present disclosure to controlconfiguration of an air interface between an access node and a UE, wherethe air interface is divided over time into frames and the frames arefurther divided at least into subframes, and where the air interfaceoperates in accordance with a time-division-duplex configuration thatdefines at least a number of uplink subframes per frame forcommunication over the air interface.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the example access node includes at least onewireless communication interface 68, at least one backhaul communicationinterface 70, and at least one controller 72, all of which could beintegrated together and/or communicatively linked together by a systembus, network, or other connection mechanism 74.

In an example implementation, the at least one wireless communicationinterface 68 could comprise an antenna structure, which could be towermounted or could take other forms, and associated components such as apower amplifier and a wireless transceiver, so as to facilitateproviding coverage on one or more carriers and serving the UE over theair-interface connection. And the at least one backhaul communicationinterface 70 could comprise network communication interface such as anEthernet interface, through which the access node could engage inbackhaul communication, such as communication on a core network and withanother access node.

Further, the at least one controller 72 could comprise at least oneprocessor 76 (e.g., one or more general purpose processors and/or one ormore specialized processors) programmed to cause the access node tocarry out various operations such as those discussed herein. Forinstance, the at least one controller 72 could comprise at least onenon-transitory data storage 78 (e.g., one or more magnetic, optical, orflash storage components, necessarily non-transitory) which could storeprogram instructions 80 executable by the at least one processor tocause the access node to carry out such operations.

Various other features discussed herein can be implemented in thiscontext as well, and vice versa.

Further, the present disclosure also contemplates a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having encoded thereon (e.g., storing,embodying, containing, or otherwise incorporating) program instructionsexecutable to cause a processing unit to carry out operations such asthose described above.

Exemplary embodiments have been described above. Those skilled in theart will understand, however, that changes and modifications may be madeto these embodiments without departing from the true scope and spirit ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for multi-phase transmission of a datasequence from an antenna, the method comprising: engaging in a firsttransmission of the data sequence from the antenna; and automaticallyengaging in a second transmission of the data sequence from the antennawith a phase delay compared with the first transmission, whereinautomatically engaging in the second transmission of the data sequencefrom the antenna with the phase delay comprises automatically engagingin the second transmission of the data sequence after engaging in thefirst transmission of the data sequence, wherein engaging in the firsttransmission of the data sequence occurs with a first phase, and whereinengaging in the second transmission of the data sequence occurs with asecond phase different from the first phase, wherein the data sequenceis a combined encoded sequence comprising a first sequence of data and asecond sequence of data, and wherein engaging in the first transmissionand automatically engaging in the second transmission with the phasedelay helps to simulate a multi-path effect and helps to facilitatesuccessful receipt of the data sequence by a receiving device.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein automatically engaging in the secondtransmission of the data sequence from the antenna with the phase delaycomprises: automatically engaging in the second transmission of the datasequence a predefined amount of time after engaging in the firsttransmission of the data sequence.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst transmission and the second transmission have different phases. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein engaging in the first transmission of thedata sequence is carried out by a first access node, and engaging in thesecond transmission of the data sequence is carried out by the sameaccess node.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the combined encodedsequence is based on encoding the first sequence of data using a firstbinary code and encoding the second sequence of data using a secondbinary code.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first binary code andthe second binary code are Walsh codes.
 7. The method of claim 5,wherein the first binary code and the second binary code have zerocross-correlation with each other.
 8. A system comprising: an antenna;at least one processing unit; at least one non-transitory data storage;and program instructions stored in the at least one non-transitory datastorage and executable by the at least one processing unit to carry outoperations for multi-phase transmission of a data sequence from theantenna, wherein the operations comprise: engaging in a firsttransmission of the data sequence from the antenna, and automaticallyengaging in a second transmission of the data sequence from the antennawith a phase delay compared with the first transmission, whereinautomatically engaging in the second transmission of the data sequencefrom the antenna with the phase delay comprises automatically engagingin the second transmission of the data sequence after engaging in thefirst transmission of the data sequence, wherein engaging in the firsttransmission of the data sequence occurs with a first phase, and whereinengaging in the second transmission of the data sequence occurs with asecond phase different from the first phase, wherein the data sequenceis a combined encoded sequence comprising a first sequence of data and asecond sequence of data, and wherein engaging in the first transmissionand automatically engaging in the second transmission with the phasedelay helps to simulate a multi-path effect and helps to facilitatesuccessful receipt of the data sequence by a receiving device.
 9. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein automatically engaging in the secondtransmission of the data sequence from the antenna with the phase delaycomprises: automatically engaging in the second transmission of the datasequence a predefined amount after engaging in the first transmission ofthe data sequence.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein engaging in thefirst transmission of the data sequence is carried out by a first accessnode and engaging in the second transmission of the data sequence iscarried out by the same access node.
 11. A wireless communication systemcomprising: a wireless communication interface including an antenna; abackhaul communication interface through which to communicate with otherentities; and a controller, wherein the controller is configured tocause the wireless communication system to carry out operations formulti-phase transmission of a data sequence from an antenna, wherein theoperations comprise: engaging in a first transmission of the datasequence from the antenna, and automatically engaging in a secondtransmission of the data sequence from the antenna with a phase delaycompared with the first transmission, wherein automatically engaging inthe second transmission of the data sequence from the antenna with thephase delay comprises automatically engaging in the second transmissionof the data sequence after engaging in the first transmission of thedata sequence, wherein engaging in the first transmission of the datasequence occurs with a first phase, and wherein engaging in the secondtransmission of the data sequence occurs with a second phase differentfrom the first phase, wherein the data sequence is a combined encodedsequence comprising a first sequence of data and a second sequence ofdata, and wherein engaging in the first transmission and automaticallyengaging in the second transmission with the phase delay helps tosimulate a multi-path effect and helps to facilitate successful receiptof the data sequence by a receiving device.
 12. The wirelesscommunication system of claim 11, wherein automatically engaging in thesecond transmission of the data sequence from the antenna with the phasedelay comprises: automatically engaging in the second transmission ofthe data sequence a predefined amount of time after engaging in thefirst transmission of the data sequence.
 13. The wireless communicationsystem of claim 11, wherein the combined encoded sequence is based onencoding the first sequence of data using a first binary code andencoding the second sequence of data using a second binary code.